A pal of the pair said: “They decided together they want their big day in September, probably on one of St Tropez’s beaches.

“Ashton is already going into space on Branson’s Virgin Galactic flight and he has said Mila will definitely be at his side as his honeymoon present.”

The pair agreed they want to get hitched as soon as possible while sunning themselves in St Tropez with new pals Princess Beatrice and her boyfriend Dave Clark. Ashton won’t have to pull many strings to get Mila on to the space voyage.

Dave is head of “astronaut relations” for the Virgin Galactic programme — and he got friendly with Ashton when the actor snapped up the 500th ticket for the first flights.

TV viewers will remember Ashton and Mila from the “Happy Days” inspired TV show, “That ’70’s Show,” one of the more on-the-nose titled sitcoms in television history.

Attentive readers will remember Princess Bea, as she is known, as the fifth in line to the British throne and the Office Royal Wearer of Funny Hats. (This is apparently an official hereditary position dating back to the 13th century, based upon my extensive — and usually authoritative — research into the British Royal family.)

Even more attentive readers will also know that Clark did not front The Dave Clark Five, whose single “Glad All Over” knocked the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top of the UK singles charts in January 1964. Different guy entirely.

But, I digress…

If true — and I remind you all, this is The Sun reporting this news — Aston and Mila will be joining an exclusive group of couples who have been waiting for years to celebrate their love in space (metaphorically speaking).

George Whitesides and his then fiancee, Loretta Hildalgo, announced an agreement with Branson to honeymoon aboard SpaceShipTwo many years ago. The couple subsequently married and now have two children. George Whitesides is now CEO and President of Virgin Galactic, overseeing the final phases of SpaceShipTwo’s testing and transition to commercial flight.

In today’s edition of Florida Today, James Dean profiles a less famous Winter Park couple, Marc and Sharon Hagle, who signed up for a SpaceShipTwo flight in 2007.

For the Hagles, both now 64, the space tourism adventure began in 2007 with an anniversary celebrated in simulated microgravity.They flew from Kennedy Space Center’s shuttle runway aboard a Zero Gravity Corp. parabolic jet that produces short periods of weightlessness and reduced gravity.

The group of flyers who seemed to be having the most fun turned out to be staff and travel agents affiliated with Virgin Galactic, and the Hagles learned about the company’s space tourism plans.

“Where do I sign?” asked Marc, president and CEO of Maitland-based Tricor International Corp., which develops shopping centers, office buildings and residential properties.

The same day, they completed paperwork that made them passengers 40 and 41 in line to fly after an initial group of 100 “Founders.”